Places that make you feel uncomfortable.

[SingingKettles]

And those that make you feel very comfortable, too!
I mean in the UK, or could possibly be outside it too.
I don't mean tourism exactly, just places where you felt uncomfortable or were eager to return home from. It doesn't have to be a bad area, it could easily be somewhere known to be beautiful and thriving.

For me it was Hebden Bridge, a sort of looming gloominess I couldn't shake off. I know people who live there so visit a few times per year, and that sensation never changes. It isn't easy to explain.

As much as I adore Shrewsbury (it has a cat cafe, so it's a winner!) I have felt a bit off there, too. A sense of manic energy, insanely loud traffic in the town centre, I found that I couldn't seem to rest, even in the suburbs.. A shame because I loved so much about it and it is a very friendly place with gorgeous buildings.

Liverpool didn't work for me either. I find the local people to be so helpful and lovely, but something about the Mersey and especially the docks made me feel unutterably depressed (yes, I know it's history, but it wasn't simply that).

Ambleside made me on edge also, and unlike the rest of the areas amongst the fells I felt drained there. It didn't help having single file sized pavements so everything felt slightly dangerous and overwhelmed.

Now for my favourites:

I do love Ludlow though, I felt so calm and at peace there. The light was mellow and soft. There wasn't all that much to do, apart from the good grub and castle, but I could live in an attic there and paint all day forever. If only..

I also loved Edale in the Peak District. A very tiny village with one shop if I recall and a great pub called the Nag's Head. I used to feel as if my heart was being torn out when I had to go home. I felt as if the landscape there had it's arms around me, softly.

I was happy in Penrith, although this was 10 yrs ago so it may have changed somewhat since. I hadn't wanted to go as it looked miserable and grey but I felt so at home there.

I also adore just throwing myself into the heart of London. I always come alive there. Not sure I'd move in, even if I could afford it (!) but yeh.

I find Glasgow city centre quite forbidding, I think a combination of the dark stone buildings and the “canyon” style streets, plus no real views as such. And this is despite me growing up only 45 minutes away and having a very strong sense of the city’s culture and history, and an innate understanding of the language and humour.

St Andrews is the weirdest place I’ve ever been, so windswept and remote and exposed but not in a good way.

Frome in Somerset was a lovely surprise, I had no idea what to expect and was captivated by it. My heart belongs to Cambridge though.

I live in Lancashire where you can see fields and green from wherever you are.

I love pendle hill and its surrounding areas.

Birmingham makes me feel uneasy, I'm not sure if it just feels overwhelming being in a big busy city or that I'm older now and know how dangerous it can be, but when I travel to Manchester I don't feel that way at all strangely so I'm not really sure what the reason is.

Bristol. Felt awful there
and couldn't wait to leave

Really random and incredibly specific but Rowntree's Park in York.

Me and a friend go there with her dog when I visit her.

I don't know why I don't like it. It's a beautiful park - not like its a few benches in an otherwise desolate scrub land masquerading as a park.

It's in a naice area of York so is full of retirees and all very middle-class, yummy mummy types - not like there are hoardes of teenagers hurtling around on quad bikes.

But I hate it. It makes me feel really uncomfortable. It's got weird Hills Have Eyes, League of Gentlemen, Stepford Wives, Truman Show vibes.

I agree about Hebden Bridge; not sure why, perhaps it's just too "alternative" for me. Some say it's the Totnes of the north.

What I want to see is yummy mummys on quad bikes!

Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales makes me sad and there's such an air of hopelessness about the place. I've yet to pass through it when the sun's out, it always seems to be grey and raining, and those towering slag heaps don't help.

My friends there are gay and adore the community for being so open and laid back with that. I am aware that is has a high suicide rate though, and the combination of media luvvies with their property portfolio's creates a weird tension alongside the more deprived areas locally.

I like alternative, but couldn't see all that much of it apart from some veggie restaurants and crystals/incense shops. I have always seen Hebden as somewhere where you go to part with money .

I visited Leeds considering the university but I found the place rather oppressive, somehow.

Have passed through Los Angeles driving somewhere else and it just seemed horrible and personality-free, no desire to visit.

Stopped over in Yeovil once and it seemed a rather godforsaken place.

Happy places:

Brighton - always feel quite at home there and love the feel of it and its various neighbourhoods

San Francisco - similar to Brighton!

This has been done loads of times before. I've been trying to find a thread but can't remember any of the titles.

The usual contenders will crop up. Glastonbury, Brighton, Isle of Wight. Hebden Bridge is also often referred to.

I've made myself dizzy scrolling through threads because I think you'd enjoy reading some of them OP. I'm sure someone far better than me will find a link!

Love: York, lovely bright and open picturesque city and river, generally very nice/helpful/friendly people, never feel threatened, everyone seems happy.

Hate: Leeds, there's just something grim about the place, unfriendly/unhelpful people, not attractive/picturesque in any way, "dodgy" looking people everywhere and a ruddy great dual carriageway through the middle which causes bridges/tunnels where the dodgy people hang out.

I went to Milton Keynes for the first time last week and found it a bit uncanny.

Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. It felt like a flat version of Royston Vasey. A bit bleak, like the Fens are.

I agree about Ludlow, well, that part of Shropshire in general. I think they have a sort of integrity and a sense of place which is unaltered by outside influences , untouched by North American and global ‘media’ trends. I felt the same about Wareham, I’d live there with glee.

My current home is in a numinous spot, many people have commented on it, including well known poets in the past.

The first time I went to a town in France ( won’t say which one because outing) I felt instantly at home. I said to DH that I would like to live there, and we did for fifteen summers. 🥰

OldTinHat · Today 15:11

This has been done loads of times before. I've been trying to find a thread but can't remember any of the titles

For some reason I can’t add links, but here are two of the last threads you mentioned.

Oh, I love Glasgow (used to live there and it still has a large piece of my heart).

Only been to Leeds once but I thought it was buzzy, attractive and impressive; all those magnificent buildings built with merchant wealth. I know it has its deprived pockets and problems though.

This is very specific, but there's a supermarket in Craven Arms in Shropshire whose name always escapes me (not a chain) where I always feel like the customers and staff are all glaring balefully around, and the atmosphere is oddly threatening. It's like shopping after the end of the world or something.

The Lake District makes me feel hemmed in and claustrophobic. I know it's spectacularly beautiful but it's just not for me.

I LOVE Anglesey. I feel like a weight is lifted the second I drive over the bridge!

Bolton
Went for the first time a couple of years ago and it was an absolutely miserable place.Couldn't wait to get out tbh

Cardiff. Never in my life have I arrived somewhere and felt such an overwhelming need to immediately leave. The whole city has such a menacing feel to me, I was on edge for the entire weekend. A very depressing place and the constant grey skies and rain did not help

🤣🤣🤣 I live near there and feel the same every time I have to go into town. Mind you, the fens on a sunny summer day are beautiful. Flat. But beautiful.

Don't like Stoke on Trent.
Really like York, felt very comfortable there.
Also love anywhere in Snowdonia!

I agree with Stoke on Trent. Such a gloomy place and itched to leave.
Felt the same in Glastonbury.

Loved Ludlow

Egham has such a dark and menacing vibe, i couldn't wait to get out of there, i managed an hour and a half and i had to leave, i ran to the car as i really did feel troubled. Aviemore gives me the creeps, spent a weekend there at Thunder in the Glen and i barely slept, one look at the big hotel and i felt my blood run cold. The minute i arrived in Gibraltar i felt at home and thought i could live there.

Cornwall. I loathe it so much. I have to go there several times a year for a number of reasons. The places I have to go to are famous beauty spots. Makes no difference. I get hyper anxious and always leave early - as soon as my final meeting is over I just jump on a train, however late and impractical it is. No point in saying why I hate it as it would just offend people who live there and love it. But just typing the word Cornwall in this message has made me feel on edge.

I love London. It's my happy place. I know it is grubby and busy and hectic and a bit dangerous but I feel alive there and excited to explore it.

Thanks for the link, I love this type of thing, and had previously read one about touristy places, so will search for a few more for this evening:)